Where are the statesmen? Immigration law scapegoat for failure to produce jobs (letters to the editor)

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Where are the statesmen?

I ask that our local (and national) elected representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, seek to act more like statesmen. I crave a political environment where people can express their concerns and their views and be met with a respectful and thoughtful dialogue.

I was extremely disappointed to read exchange at last week's town hall meeting with Congressman Mo Brooks.

Based on The Times' article, a Grissom student talked about his family's personal connection to the immigration issue. As the student commented on the impact to these families and their exodus from Alabama, Brooks broke in and interjected, "Isn't that great!" Representative Brooks, you had a young student in front of you, strong enough to express himself and you belittled him and discounted his personal views. To Mo Brooks and all of our elected leaders, I'm tired of the shallow one-liners and search for clever sound bites. Dig deeper. Listen. Be a leader. Show the same respect for all your constituents, even those who may occassionally disagree with you. If members of both sides of the aisle strived for this we might reasonably hope for more substantive progress.

Chris Russell

Huntsville, 35801

Immigration law a scapegoat

Now we persecute women and children by law in this state. In our lifetime, now, people are being hounded by a law which aims to attack every element of an alien's existence. The very country which welcomed workers to its fields, construction sites, and businesses when times were good, now turns on them when there are no jobs.

Why? The proponents of HB 56, the ethnic cleansing law, have no idea how to make jobs, so they deflect anger to scapegoats. The politicians crack cruel jokes about Hispanics being run out, jailed, all but shot.

The politicians create fear, characterize the aliens as a form of vermin to be gotten rid of. The politicians rejoice when crops are reported rotting and hard labor jobs go undone, because as Kris Kobach, Kansas' Secretary of State who helped draft HB 56, said, "It shows it is working."

Working? Sure, if chasing families with children into the night, cutting off their water, healthcare, costing us crops, jobs, and our sacred honor, is what working is all about. I guess the legislative sponsors and Gov. Bentley's crew have made a "great day for Alabama."